Asian Invasion: Teso Life (Update)

In the latest Asian Invasion of Jacksonville, Florida, we have Japanese retail store Teso Life. It just had its grand opening last night, July 10th. The grand opening continues until Sunday, July 12th.

To catch you up, let’s recap the Asian Invasion in Jacksonville, starting with RD International, a massive Asian grocery/fresh fish store in Feb 2024. They regularly hosts the Asian Night Market (a once, or twice-monthly food & drink free event spotlighting Asian street food).

The next store was Korean Supermarket Lotte, which opened in September 2025. This is an incredibly popular store. I have been to it five or six times, and every time it’s packed. Their mini-food court is often bustling as well.

Then Enson Market had a soft-opening in April 2026. While there were plenty of American people going in the store out of curiosity, it is nowhere as busy as Lotte. I do like their fresh sushi and bakery goods (usually available on Saturday), some prices are too expensive… while others are a steal. It’s uneven, and I feel the grocery store is struggling – just based on the lack of foot traffic I’m seeing first hand. Also, I feel it’s all about location. They are next to a Walmart and Aldi – both offers cheaper or competitive pricing for food.

Finally, we have Japanese store Teso Life, which opened yesterday. I’ve written about it in April 2026, saying: “Japanese fashion and lifestyle department store Teso Life will be coming to Jacksonville next month. I don’t really know what it’ll look like or what they’ll offer, but I generally like Japanese stuff. I’m a big fan of Daiso (I got a ton of items under $5 at the store in New Hope, Minnesota)… so I am hoping Teso Life will offers that kind of pricing and product.”

In 98°F degree scorching heat, we made our way to the parking lot. The store looks massive, because it was previously Conn’s HomePlus and Rooms To Go, a giant furniture/bedroom store… where they need the space to display the goods. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the line went on around the building and it wasn’t moving at all. Apparently, the store was at max capacity and they could only let people in, as customers exit. So as much as I wanted to report what was inside and their prices, it just wasn’t meant to be. It was just too hot for us to stand in line.

We can try again today (when they first open at 11am), but should the line be too long, I’m not sure if I want to waste my time. We’ll see, I will update later if we decide to go. We do have until July 12th. After that, if it doesn’t work out, I will go on a random Tuesday weeks later. Sure, I won’t get any of those cool free gifts, but at least I can quickly go in and out or shop at my leisure.

Update 07/12/2026: Finally made it into the store, on their final Grand Opening Day.

We arrived to the store on Sunday morning, right before they open the store at 11am. There was already a long line to get in, but that should move quickly, as we were the first ones there. True enough after five minutes, we were moving.

The store is much better than it looks, and there were many floating island, dedicated and organized on collectible brands. To the right are wood puzzles. To the center was collectible blind boxes. To the left were the makeup and food. I was mostly interested in the figurines… which I’ll admit I did not know more than half the brands on display.

A small sampling: Sanrio (Hello Kitty), Smiski (glow-in-the-dark naked people), Lulu the piggy, Monchhichi (the monkey), Boy Rayan, Emma (coffee shop), Crayon Shinchan, etc. Once in a while you’ll see something you’ll recognize, like Garfield or Astro Boy… but most of it are creations that I have never heard of. If you’ve ever been to a Barnes & Noble at the Japanese import toys, or the Target blind box toy area, or that Labubu craze … it is like that – only it’s an entire store dedicated to these collectibles. Prices ranges from $6 to $25, so they are not cheap trinkets.

The disappointing thing, at least for me, was that there were no brands that I collect, particularly Transformers and Gundam. There was fake or copies of Gundam model kits, and they were decently priced ($17)… but they were not Gundam. There was no English label, so I couldn’t read or understood the name of the brand. You can find Gundam kits for $25-$50, so I wonder if Teso won’t carry them on account to costs.

The store is a curiosity for me, but I can’t really see myself at the store all the time. Maybe sometime down the road, when it’s not so busy, I can stop in and pick up some Smiski work figurines for my computer desk.

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